


Hold and Love

by dramaticbanjo



Category: Inazuma Eleven GO
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:25:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dramaticbanjo/pseuds/dramaticbanjo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes children get into messes, and sometimes you lose things forever.<br/>Sometimes those two things are related.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hold and Love

Even before they were married, both of them liked the idea of having kids. Although, maybe just one, because they both got flustered and Konoha tended to drop her books whenever she thought of two or even three kids with her hair and (hopefully) Kusaka’s eyes and smile running around her.   
In the end, it was probably best they decided just one, because when they brought their son home from the hospital, it was hard to tell who had been crying more.   
Both of them made mistakes in the beginning, after all, this was their first son, and Konoha felt so nervous she might drop him and at the same time she didn’t want to put him down. Everyone from Shinsei Inazuma would call from wherever they were in the world at the time—sometimes Sakura was in France, Ibuki was in New York, Minaho and Manabe were in London, Matatagi was in another part of Japan entirely and Tetsukado was traveling through Asia, but they all were far more excited to see pictures of the baby.  
Tenma, as usual, wanted him to play soccer, and when Zanark was just starting to learn how to walk—actually, now that Konoha thought about it, her infant son decided to skip the crawling and wobbly walking and go straight to running around as fast as his little legs could carry him, often leaving him father to chase after him—both of them apparently latched onto the idea. When Tenma could visit them, when his schedule with the Pro-Leagues allowed, he whole-heartedly encouraged Zanark even more. After that, quite frankly, Konoha decided there was really nothing she could do about her former captain teaching her son soccer.   
It was in the middle of summer when she first tied Zanark’s hair into braids. He was still in diapers and was already so headstrong he ran away at the mere suggestion of taking a pair of scissors to his hair, and so Konoha found herself sitting on their back porch with him sitting in between her legs, holding still for once while she carefully plaited his dark green hair. For now, he only had two short braids, but by how thick his hair was already getting, Konoha thought she might have to either do four more braids, or convince him to get a haircut. Hearing the door slide open behind her, she glanced over her shoulder to see Kusaka carrying a worn soccer ball under one arm.   
“Hey, kiddo.”   
“Dada!”   
Konoha made a small sound of surprise as he was up on his feet again, running to his father, “Dada! Dada! Sakka!” The endearing sight made her giggle, and her laughter never failed to bring a small blush to her husband’s face, “Still full of energy?”  
“Dada!” There was a wide grin on his son’s face, and Kusaka laughed, humoring his son and letting the impatient child tug on his pant leg while they walked down the steps to the grass. From the porch, Konoha smiled at the two, watching her son tumble and then get up to continue to chase his father, who was gently kicking the ball back and forth. “Be careful, now…”  
“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” Kusaka gave her a reassuring smile, one that never failed to make her heart flutter, and she went back inside, occasionally glancing out the kitchen window as she prepared the rest of dinner.   
He was getting close to his third birthday when Shinsei Inazuma managed to have another reunion party, the last one they had was technically her and Kusaka’s wedding, and after a bit of coaxing, she brought Zanark as well, after being assured there would not be a repeat of what happened during their college graduation.   
Sakura immediately thought he was the cutest baby she had ever seen and kept sneaking him bites of the sweets that were set out. Zanark obviously knew this, and was playing up everything he could to get more of it.   
Tetsukado took a turn carrying him, and Zanark giggled with glee when the fisherman boxer gently tossed him up in the air, before tugging on his dreadlocks.   
Aoi smiled brightly taking the toddler, as he was fast out growing ‘infant’, and managed to get him to release Tetsukado’s dreadlocks, “There you go.” She said cheerfully to the child, smiling again when he laughed at her.   
When Tenma got to hold him, the older player excitedly laughed and smiled along with the almost three year old, and the old Shinsei Inazuma players smiled indulgently. It was almost hard to tell if Tenma was actually an adult sometimes. 

Zanark was beginning to get a little gap in between his front teeth. When he was older, braces might fix it, but for the time being, it just made his bright smile look endearingly goofy, even though he still refused to get his long hair cut short.  
Konoha got very adept at braiding.   
The evening that Kusaka found Zanark moping in his room was the evening that Konoha had errands keeping her busy until late in the evening. Knowing it was very much not like his son to be sitting on his bed with the blankets pulled over his head, Kusaka sat on, the mattress’ springs creaking slightly under his weight, “Hey, kiddo. What are you doing under there?”  
The now four, almost five, year old made a small, grumbling humph sound, slouching further under his blanket-shield. Frowning slightly, Kusaka leaned over, and with one quick movement, pulled down the sheet, making Zanark squawk in all the outrage a boy his age could muster up.   
Large portions of his bangs were raggedly cut off, and he looked off to the side, like he couldn’t meet his father’s eyes.  
“…What happened?”   
Zanark pouted, but under the patiently stern gaze of his father, he eventually spoke, “… Boys from school.”   
Ah. Zanark had just started going, and, well, children can be cruel. Both Kusaka and Konoha had unfortunate first hand experience with how much.   
“How did you lose half of your bangs?”  
There was another pause, and Zanark started biting his lower lip, “…They put gum in it. Saying my hair was like a girl’s and I should cut it. Cut the gum out during art.”   
So that was it. Zanark had actually been fairly proud about how long his hair had grown, and that he could almost braid the front parts himself.  
“…I hate school.” Zanark mumbled, and Kusaka let out a long breath. Adjusting his seat on the bed, he patted the space next to him, and Zanark scooted over to sit next to his Dad, “Are you mad at me, Dad?”  
“For what?”  
“Cuttin’ my hair.”  
“No.” Slightly bemused at his son’s idea of priorities, Kusaka shook his head, “Is this the first time this has happened?”  
“First time they put gum in my hair.” Zanark half admitted, and his father frowned for a second, “They’re bigger than me.”   
He really had wanted to share the life lessons him and Konoha had learned about bullies later, when Zanark could maybe understand better why his father had a scar on his side form a knife fight, but it seems like now was as good a time as any to start.  
“Don’t let that stop you.” His voice was softer, and Zanark looked up at his dad, “Stop what?”  
“Don’t let it stop you from standing up for yourself, even if they are bigger.” Kusaka’s voice was soft, and Zanark must have sensed the seriousness underneath it, because he didn’t interuppt, instead pulling up his knees to his chest. “Okay?”  
Thinking it over, Zanark nodded, “…Got it.”  
The next day, they got a call from the office. Zanark gave one of the boys large bruise on his face and punched another when they tried to cut off one of his braids. Despite his bloody nose, he was smiling.   
When he was six he fell from a tree and knocked out a tooth. Once the bleeding stopped, the very next day he climbed the tree again and fell down again, knocking out another. Sakura visited and taught him how to walk on his hands, and was actually impressed he was able to do it so quickly. The school councilor called them, and suggested Zanark take a few tests and then skip a grade.

“…And then I kicked it and it went all WOOSH and then BAM! The Goalkeeper managed to miss it and it went straight in!” As proud as a six year old can be, Zanark babbled on about his soccer team’s game as Konoha tucked him into bed, “Then the whistle blew and WOW! We won!” He was immensely proud of himself. Smiling softly, she smoothed down the blankets when he stopped moving too much, leaning down to give him a kiss on the forehead, “I’m very proud of you.”   
“Mom, mom, did you ever score a crazy goal like that?”  
“Oh, no…I played defense. Your father did, though.”  
“Well I get to be an awesome soccer player like you guys?”  
Another smile at her son, and Konoha gave him another kiss, “I think you’ll be even better than all of us, Zanark. Find a good team and you’ll be able to do anything.” He nodded excitedly, but settled down against his pillow, yawning widely.   
“I…thought you’d say that…” He mumbled, already nodding off when she was about to close the door.   
Kusaka was in the living room, drinking his last cup of coffee for the night and reading the last parts of the newspaper, hair in a messy ponytail. Leaning over the back of the couch, she gave him a small kiss on the cheek, surprising him out of his reading, “Hm? He actually went to sleep on time.”  
“It was hard to tell during dinner, but he was exhausted from his game. He’s very proud of himself.”  
“I’ll bet he is.” 

When Zanark was a month away from his seventh birthday, he disappeared for an entire day; despite saying he was going to the Park. The next day, he stayed out so late that Morimura went out to the park to look for him.   
She found him riding a bizarre motorcycle and talking one hundred miles a minute about dinosaurs and castles and samurai and anything else he claimed to see while he had apparently been traveling through time. Kusaka had indulged him, listening to the stories, but Morimura bit her lip, worried.   
After he was asleep, they both were pouring their last cups of coffee. The air had a tense feeling that hadn’t appeared since they had been picking out baby names. Although time travel seemed like it was beyond the realm of possibility, they were also no strangers to almost impossible things.   
“He did vanish for an entire day…” She began softly, holding her mug with two hands but not drinking from it, “And I tried to find that vehicle again but it disappeared.”   
Kusaka had a frown on his face, “Do you really think he…?”  
“I…don’t know.” 

Zanark was seven when he started taking trips on the motorcycle-thing regularly. 

He was eight when a mysterious boy in a strange uniform tried to stop him. Zanark punched him and then stuck his tongue out when he climbed on the seat, watching the panels activate. 

And he was nine when he received another warning. The boy with purple hair and a somber expression was back, and he held up on hand in a ‘stop’ gesture.   
“You are forbidden to enact more time jumps.”  
“Why not?”  
“You are not authorized to.”   
Zanark frowned, before punching the boy again. 

He was still nine when he found out the consequences of constantly breaking a rule.


End file.
